The Hot Topic

A life-changing look at the Change of Life

There has never been a better time to be a menopausal woman. Technology is such that 60 really is the new 40 (or even 35)…

But, for Christa D’Souza, some nagging questions remain… What is the point of us now that we are officially biologically irrelevant? Are hormones safe, even if you’ve had cancer? Is there a cut-off point for plaits?

In this fabulously confessional romp through the menopause, D’Souza tells us what it was like for her, and what it will be like for you. She meets a bunch of menopausal nuns in San Francisco, goes hunter-gathering with the Hadza tribe in Tanzania, interviews experts around the world to get the latest science… and discovers along the way some surprising silver linings to this key milestone of maturity.

The Hot Topic is a treat of a book – liberating, empowering and unexpectedly moving in its truth-telling.

“At last a no-nonsense, myth debunking and even amusing look at the M word. The final step to equality has to be turning the menopause from its current secret, shameful status into a topic we can happily discuss, learn to best negotiate and celebrate. In these pages Christa D'Souza puts us firmly on that path.”Mariella Frostrup

“Menopause is something none of us want to talk about, it s a club that no one yearns to belong to. So I am on my knees, weeping with gratitude to Christa D'Souza for writing about menopause in a way that doesn't make me want to run screaming for the hills. Finally, a cool look at hot flushes... Men, if you want anything more than the most shallow relationship with a woman over 40, man up and read this book.”Kate Reardon

“Christa D'Souza is warm, witty and wise. No woman - or man, come to that - should be without this book.”Cressida Connolly

There has never been a better time to be a menopausal woman. Technology is such that 60 really is the new 40 (or even 35)… But, for Christa D’Souza, some nagging questions remain… What is the point of us now [...]